Religious statues: 10 of the world's most impressive

Tamara Hinson, for CNN • Published 8th December 2014

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(CNN) — Regardless of whether or not you're religious, you can't help but feel a sense of awe when coming face to face with the grand statues that devout throughout the ages have built in honor of their deities.

And these monuments just keep getting bigger.

The Nepalese government recently unveiled the world's largest trident -- a religious statue depicting Shiva -- at a Hindu temple in Dang.

The trident is made from five different minerals, weighs more than six tons and stands 12 meters (42 feet) tall.

It joins an already impressive roster of Hindu, Buddhist and Christian statues built in destinations around the world -- including these 10 greats:

The statue took three years to complete and the finished product -- made up of 250 tons of steel, 1,550 cubic meters of concrete and 300 liters of gold paint -- was unveiled during the annual Thaipusam festival in 2006.

Incidentally, it's just meters away from what must rank as one of the world's strangest statues -- a five-legged bull.

2. Christ of the Abyss

(Key Largo, Florida)

This 2.6 meter (8.6 foot) submerged bronze statue of Jesus Christ in Key Largo, Florida is one of three created by Italian artist Guido Galletti (the others can be found in the waters off Grenada in the Caribbean and in the Mediterranean sea near Italy).

The statue weighs 260 kilograms and is held in place with a 9-ton concrete base.

It was dropped into place in 1965 and its location, just seven meters below the surface of water, means that it's visible to swimmers as well as scuba divers.